Tag Archives: adventure

25

Arthur’s Big Adventure

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Hello. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Arthur MacArthur the Cat. I respond to many names, including Arthur Baby, Prince Arthur, and Stinky Orange Boy.
I lived a hard life on the streets, starving and sick, until Mom and Granddad noticed my plucky attitude and natural charm, scooped me up, and took me inside.
After that (and some visits to the nice cat doctor and all his adoring friends) things were much better. I got warm snuggles, wet dinner every night, and tons of things to play with. I grew very long with all the delicious food and fun exercise!
Mom got me so many wondrous gifts to match my elevated status as housecat.
One of my favorite things to do is survey my kingdom from my newly acquired castle. There’s so many windows here from which I can relax and safely watch the goings-on of lesser beasts. The best part are the thin screens, which let me hear and smell my holdings most effectively.
Alas! These ingenious devices became my literal downfall two weeks ago. One morning, I laid in my usual spot in the window, my body pressed close to the screen in order to enjoy the summer breeze. Suddenly, the screen and window frame separated below me and I fell.
Oof! Ouch! The indignity! Bewildered and vulnerable in the wide-open backyard, I darted to the safety of a nearby tree.
Once I had climbed the tree, however, I realized the opportunity that had serendipitously come to me. A world of exploration awaited, starting with the top of this tree. I crawled and jumped higher, until the branches of the tree met with a roof.
Yet more opportunity for adventure! I jumped down to the roof, hoping to view even more of my domain from the new vantage point. But the moment my paws touched the shingles, I immediately filled with panic and regret. Too steep! It took all my skills just to cling to the sharply inclining angle. Even for a cat as graceful and acrobatic as I, this roof was a terrible perch!
Trying to escape the roof was fruitless. Too high to jump down, too steep to jump back up to the trees. I called for help, to no avail.
Some time later, Mom and Granddad must have noticed I was gone, because they began to yell for me. I meowed my loudest again, but it seemed no one could hear me.
I thought eventually they would figure out that I needed their help to get down, but they gave up and went to sleep! The complete idiots! Worst night ever!
I could hear them searching the next day, and I resumed my pleas. I thought Mom had heard me finally, but after searching everywhere nearby BUT the roof above, she gave up again! It’s like she completely forgot I’m a talented climber.
Just when it was getting late, and I was resigning myself to spending another awful night on the roof, Mom came running out of the house again! She looked up this time, so I meowed my displeasure at the situation.
Unfortunately, I was still unsure how to remove myself from the roof. Luckily, Mom climbed a ladder and offered me some delicious wet food, so that part was taken care of easily.
Once back inside, I had a lot of sleeping and eating to do—not to mention cleaning—before I felt like my old self again. I caught a sniffle from my stressful, hungry night on the roof, and I dont intend to repeat such an experience. The outdoors are not what I remember! Or maybe my standards have changed due to my recent indoor lifestyle?
I’m so happy to be back I’m willing to overlook the mistakes Mom and Granddad made in their search. Their incompetence delayed my return significantly, but since Mom nearly fell off the ladder in the process of helping me, I can forgive any shortcomings.
So now things are back to normal. Except I no longer get to lay by the window screen.
Ed. Note – Arthur lives with a friend of our human brother.
14

The Adventure Bear Show (Part 2 of 2)

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Image result for bear cub

So far – Joey and Mikey Bear were both trying to win a contest on The Adventure Bear Show. To win they had to write an essay about something nice they had done for someone. Somehow, both cubs had ended up at the same place to do the same job.

Joey was stunned and disappointed. Now what was he supposed to do? He didn’t have another idea. Mikey’s mom must have known about the Ursalines too. Mikey grinned from the sofa.

Joey turned to Mrs. Ursaline and said that he didn’t realize that she already had help. He didn’t want to bother her. She said not to worry; there were plenty of things to do. She was sure she could keep them both busy. So Joey sat on the sofa next to Mikey. Mikey’s grin faded. He knew Joey was a good writer and would be able to do a better job explaining their work.

Image result for bear sitting on sofa

Mrs. Ursaline was right. There was a lot of work to do. They needed to clean out the garden and cover the plants with mulch. There was a lot of raking to be done. All of the tools had to be cleaned and put away. The back part of the den needed to be raked out and covered with leaves and moss for the winter sleeping.

This was going to be a lot of work. Joey hadn’t counted on anything this hard and wondered if he could back out. Then he remembered that if he did, Mikey would get to go with Adventure Bear. This had to be the best job anyone would have. Grrr.

They each grabbed a rake and started to furiously clear the leaves, trying to outdo each other in the amount they raked. After a while, Mrs. Ursaline came out to see how they were doing. She was not impressed. She called the boys over and told them that it wasn’t a race. They needed to be more careful and make sure they got all of the leaves up. They should work as a team.

Image result for bear cub

Joey and Mikey looked at each other guiltily. She was right. They had done a terrible job. They told her they would go over it again. They divided the yard, and each cub concentrated on getting all of the leaves. When it was done, it looked great.

They decided that they should rake out the den next. That way they could use the best leaves for the bedding. While they were in the den, they started talking to each other again. They decided that it was stupid to fight over Adventure Bear. He probably already had a favorite cub in the area. They decided to be friends again.

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They found some nice, soft moss for the ground and covered it with the best leaves they could find. None of the icky, smelly ones that had already started to rot. Those ones would be good for the garden. They went outside to get started on the garden.

When they got outside, they discovered that it was already starting to get dark. They told Mrs. Ursaline that they would be back the next day to finish. Mrs. Ursaline told them that they were doing a wonderful job, and she looked forward to seeing them again.

At dinner, Joey excitedly told them about his afternoon with Mikey at Mrs. Ursaline’s. He was happiest that he and Mikey were friends again. His mother smiled. She and Mikey’s mom had hoped that would be the result. Joey went to bed early, tired from all the work.

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The next day, they decided that the best way to clean out the garden was to cut back the plants, rake around them, and cover everything with leaves. It was a lot of work, and their paws were sweaty by the time they were done.

That just left the tools. The job was worse than what they expected. They had to wipe everything down, but then they had to cover the tools with grease to protect them from the cold and damp. It was almost impossible to get the sticky stuff off their paws.

Finally it was time for the Adventure Bear dinner. Mikey and Joey sat next to each other. They talked about how great it was to shake Adventure Bear’s paw and how big and strong he was. They promised to still be friends if one of them won the trip.

Image result for bear and salmon

Dinner was great, salmon and berries, but the cubs were all impatient to find out who had won. It seemed like forever until a bear stood up and said it was time for Adventure Bear to announce the winner.

Adventure Bear said it was always hard to choose a cub for his adventure; this time it was so hard that he had chosen two winners for the first time ever. He had chosen these two cubs because they had performed their tasks together and had helped each other as well as the bear needing the help. Both essays really demonstrated the Adventure Bear spirit.

Joey and Mikey looked at each other. He had to be talking about them! When Adventure Bear announced their names, they ran to the stage together. They stood on either side of Adventure Bear while he told everyone that they would be hiking up a local hill and looking for grubs and berries.

All of them joined together in a giant “bear” hug.

Image result for bear with cubs